Technical Field
Embodiments of the invention relate to home repairs, more particularly, to repair of ceilings.
Discussion of Related Art
Many homes are built with ceilings made either of gypsum board, covered with a thin layer of “mud” (plaster) or entirely of plaster over lath. Often, gypsum board ceilings have been finished with an acoustic texture material commonly known as “popcorn.” This type of ceiling was particularly popular during the 1980s and has continued to be used in new construction.
Although any sort of ceiling can suffer damage from a variety of causes (bumps and scratches by moving objects, water leaks, and so forth), popcorn ceilings can be particularly challenging to repair. Even if the damaged structure (gypsum board and plaster) can merely be patched instead of being completely replaced, the acoustic texture material must be repaired in a way that matches to surrounding surface. Professionals in the field agree that achieving a visual match of popcorn texture is a time consuming and highly frustrating endeavor.
Current methods for fixing a popcorn ceiling include: removal of all popcorn on entire ceiling where the damage is (messy, costly, time consuming); spraying popcorn texture from a can onto the damaged area (e.g., as disclosed by U.S. Pub. 2013/0112340); rolling/brushing paint and popcorn texture onto the damaged area; or spraying paint and popcorn texture from a popcorn sprayer apparatus onto the damaged area.
Spraying of popcorn requires blocking off the spray area with sheets of plastic by dropping the plastic from the ceiling to floor (held by tape or tacks), as well as on the floor underneath. Over spray is significant and will get on the surrounding areas if not properly blocked. Despite best efforts of skilled workers, sprayed texture seldom exactly matches the existing surrounding popcorn texture, so that home owners seldom are pleased with the results. Similarly, brushed or rolled texture also very seldom matches extant texture to the point of satisfaction.
A more exotic technique for matching popcorn texture is to mold and cast an exact copy of adjacent popcorn texture (e.g., as disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 8,349,110).